Apple recently released a new developer preview of its new version of Mac OS X which brings the operating system up to version number 10.7 – Lion. Along with plenty of new bells and whistles, Safari in Mac OS X Lion features a new Reading List – a feature that allows users to save webpages for reading later, ala Instapaper.
Creator of Instapaper, Marco Arment said he wouldn’t call the new feature a competitor to his service until it syncs with iOS devices. With Instapaper’s big draw being its ability to stay in sync across multiple platforms, this was a reasonable statement to make. Problem is, that cross-platform syncing is now part of Reading List too.
A tipster has told 9to5Mac that Macs running the latest developer preview of Lion does actually sync with iOS’ Mobile Safari thanks to MobileMe bookmark syncing and, presumably, bookmark syncing through iTunes.
Using the new developer preview of Lion and an iPad the tipster discovered a new bookmark folder labelled Com.Apple.ReadingList. Inside are the contents of, you guessed it, Safari’s Reading List on the Mac.
What this means for Instapaper in the long run remains to be seen, though Arment has recently begun adding a social element to the service, presumably to stave off any competition that would arrive.
He probably didn’t expect it to come from Apple, or via Safari.